I am~.
“Without warning, Governor~.”
What are the odds of finding suspicious double bookkeeping in a branch that’s continents away from headquarters?
Hurm.
Pastel is too naive to know!
All our staff are nice, so maybe the odds are about 50%!
Pastel pranced along. Her party followed, along with the staff and former knight members trailing behind.
The crowd on the main street parted chaotically, splitting left and right. As more space was created than steps taken, a wide view opened up. At the end, the Craft High Merchant’s demon realm branch building came into sight.
“Waa~!”
For the quick-witted folks out there!
They say where there’s no legs, words travel a thousand miles, but the rumor might just catch me quicker than I arrive!
“Hurry up!”
Pastel bounced along.
Suddenly, a nearby worker carrying a load looked over, turning pale, and began to dash towards the branch building. Thanks to the parted crowd, it was quite a sight to see him running alone.
Hurm.
Someone’s behavior suddenly got suspicious…!
Pastel gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.
What do I do! What do I do!
“Way to go!”
The former knight member who was following shot out like an arrow. With such speed that the wind whipped around, it struck Pastel.
“Waaaang!”
A semi-knight’s sprint!
The frail Pastel wobbled!
She spun in the gust and, with a dramatic halt, placed her palm above her brow like she was surveying a distant land. The sight of the worker quickly subdued caught her attention.
Her pink eyes widened.
“Hurm, I didn’t even give the order and he got caught.”
So surprising.
I guess the security here is pretty tight!
Pastel skipped back over to the branch building.
As she got closer, the confused merchant members came into view, and at last, the branch manager burst through the branch door, hurrying to greet her. He looked thoroughly flustered.
Whoa whoa.
“Craft? How did you arrive so early…?”
“Craft’s right, but it’s Pastel~.”
Pastel spread her arms wide as she spoke. The former knight and merchant soldiers surrounded the branch members so they couldn’t escape.
“Your Excellency?!”
The branch manager was taken aback.
Hehe.
With an apologetic expression, Pastel clasped her hands together.
“I ran into some pirates on the way! Just in case there’s an imminent ambush on the amazing Governor, please give us a moment to prepare!”
She felt a gaze from behind. It was Melissa and Elly. They had looks of disbelief, as if to say what pirates? They had all fled seeing the warship.
Hurm.
Seems like I was the only one to run into pirates.
In my dreams!
Shudder shudder.
Pastel strode on with big steps, passing right by the branch manager who was trying to say something.
Lalalala.
As she stepped inside the building, the cold early winter air faded, and warmth enveloped her. She listened to the sounds of the whole building.
There weren’t any sneaky sounds. No sounds of suspicious ledgers being burned. And no mysterious secret escape route noises either.
The branch manager hurriedly caught up with her.
“I’ll take you to the reception room. We only just received word that you were coming, so both inside and outside are still a bit chaotic.”
“Hurm, the reception room! Do they have delicious cookies there?”
“Uh? Ah, yes, they’re delicious. We have cookies prepared that will surely satisfy you, Your Excellency. But it may take some time for the baker to arrive.”
“Wow. But Demon Lord said, don’t just eat anything given by others. Said it’ll give you a stomachache. Isn’t that a bit much? Right? You probably think I won’t be able to use gem pepper properly. So mean.”
“Uh?”
Pastel nodded in agreement to herself.
And then she recalled the construction plans she had seen earlier and walked toward the branch manager’s office.
“Your Excellency?!”
The branch manager’s office door burst open. The scene of the office papers being left untamed and messy spread out before her. A secretary who was organizing some of the papers gasped upon seeing Governor Pastel.
Pastel took a deep breath. The strong scent of power filled the room.
A very familiar scent.
This feels like the Governor Pastel, who is proud to be the best in the Sky Island, even though the Emperor is above her!
While the owner of the Craft High Merchant is the great Governor Pastel, in this distant demon realm, I am the king here! Such a scent!
Pastel squinted and scanned the suspicious parts of the branch manager’s office.
The most suspicious thing, even though the Governor had just arrived, was the secretary left alone in the branch manager’s office, continuing to sort through the documents!
Phew! Phew! Phew!
Detective Pastel’s eyes couldn’t miss it!
With the mindset of reversing roles, she was able to deduce instantly.
If the branch manager were Pastel, he would have reviewed the double ledger before the Governor arrived and thought repeatedly about how to cover it up.
Then, if the Governor unexpectedly showed up early, he would’ve welcomed her and bought time while instructing the secretary to quickly hide the double ledger.
Perfect role-reversal deduction!
“Evidence captured!”
Pastel snagged the suspicious office documents the secretary was collecting.
This familiar weight!
It had to be a double ledger.
Like a detective, she unfolded it dramatically and examined the papers sharply.
– Status report on lobbyist training and bribery.
Oh?
It described how bribes were given to members of the Demon Realm United Kingdom and their aides to sway them to the Craft side. The main goal was to obtain subsidies from the United Kingdom by emphasizing the railroad’s public benefits.
However, recently due to railroad terror by the radical demon group, the added purpose seemed to involve using the United Kingdom’s military for free while sneakily privatizing it, and this content was presented in the report.
An ordinary document.
Signifying her deduction was wrong.
The detective was taken aback. She quietly returned the document to the secretary, crossing her arms as she wore a serious expression.
How could my deduction be wrong…?
“Please wait. I’ll clean this up quickly.”
“I’ll help.”
“Thank you, my lady.”
The branch manager, Elly, and Melissa began to organize the countless bribery lists and document piles.
Pastel felt a chill at the branch manager’s extremely calm face.
Hurm, this feeling?
The sensation of facing a perfect crime!
Thinking about it, no one would lay out the double ledger so visibly. If it were Pastel, she would have hidden it away and memorized its contents instead.
That’s right, that’s right!
Instead, they probably diverted attention to the suspicious secretary, giving a false sense of security! People tend to drop doubts when they learn something isn’t what they suspected!
Aaaaah.
Creepy.
That was a close one!
But Detective Pastel, who will never fall for it, sharply scanned the branch manager’s office. A bookshelf filling one side of the wall caught her eye.
Phew phew phew.
Found it right away.
There’s no one in this world who would read boring stuff in a workspace.
Then those books are either decorative or for secret compartments.
Pastel rushed over and quickly flipped through the books. She discovered a suitable book at the right height.
Books are naturally hard to clean, so the top part would definitely accumulate dust, but only one book was slightly cleaner. A small difference but a big difference to an experienced expert’s eye. Only a frequently retrieved book could be this clean.
This is it!
“Evidence captured!”
Pastel swiftly pulled the book out.
With a click, the book came free, and the gears behind the bookshelf turned. Surrounding books moved back, revealing a vault.
A sinister vault…!
Aaaaah!
What kind of treacherous double bookkeeping could have warranted a vault…!
Could it be that the demon realm branch was already bankrupt due to massive embezzlement and failed ventures, and they’ve been hiding it till now!
And now the headquarters has to bear the fallout!
A shadow loomed over the pink girl.
Hurm.
Looking back, it was the branch manager carrying a pile of documents.
Could it be an attempt at deleterious murder…?!
The branch manager bowed his head.
“Thank you. To find it by mere eye estimation, just as I’ve heard.”
His hands reached out, and the vault’s dials were manipulated. The empty vault opened, and the pile of bribery documents filled the space. The vault closed, and the bookshelf returned to its original state.
The branch manager dusted off his hands.
“All tidied up.”
True to his word, the group was already seated on the sofa. The secretary served green tea.
“Thank you. The tea leaves are good.”
Melissa said politely, smiling.
What’s this?
Pastel wore a serious expression. She took another sharp survey of the branch manager’s office.
After thoroughly inspecting the documents she received a moment later for any accounting discrepancies and contradictions, she grew an even graver expression.
“Nothing wrong…?”
That can’t be true.
In a branch that’s continents away, especially one where smuggling is the main business, how can there be no double bookkeeping or large-scale embezzlement to deceive headquarters…?
There were petty embezzlements involving individual staff. But those were just pocket money levels of embezzlement, and there were no large-scale embezzlements that should have shown up on the ledger.
Why not?
Why isn’t there any?
The wallet is crying out in hunger!
As she was lost in confusion, Elly, who had stayed up for two nights reviewing the documents alongside her, rubbed her eyes and mumbled.
“Unlike humans, our demon race is generally quite honest.”
“Hurm, really?”
Her pink eyes widened. The emperor’s spy princess looked at her close and dependable brother.
“Generally.”
The princess covered her mouth and yawned softly.
“Elly is like that, so I guess it’s true. But more than that, Pastel, since the verification is done, how about we enjoy a little culinary delight tomorrow? We’ll have arrived early but ended up staring at paper for two full days. Feels a bit off, right?”
As Melissa said that, Pastel shook her head vigorously.
“No no no! It can’t be like this!”
She sprang up.
“Tomorrow, I’ll personally check the site!”
To the very last day, I’ll be thrifty!
There’s surely plenty of plump embezzlement at the site waiting for me!
If it were Pastel, she would absolutely do that…!
